Croissant Kings
by ayasato
Summary: Emerald is in debt. Pearl is in debt. So what do they do to make money? Run a croissant stand together, of course! Hopefully, the other Dexholders and their Pokemon will help make sure it won't burn to the ground...
1. emerald vs landlord

this fanfic is at least 6 years old, so be warned

* * *

It had been an average day for all of them. They woke up late, ate leftover takeout for breakfast, didn't bother to bathe and snacked on dry biscuits from a large, fast-emptying tin. Though early afternoon, most of them hadn't really moved much from their sleeping positions of the previous night.

Crystal would have eaten him alive - if she knew.

Basically, their daily routine would be lazing around the apartment, and the first half of this day in particular was spent like any other - just being lazy. Of course, this was just the first half.

Anyways, the Pokemon found this phase of laziness justified. The past few months had been, in his opinion, simply crazy. Mostly thanks to his Trainer, whose endless whining and begging and moaning had gone on for so long that the Pokemon had gotten tired just looking at him.

Sceptile kicked back in his chair, his unique tail waving contentedly. Eventually, his Trainer had succeeded in his… endeavours, and they were now living the life in a middle-class apartment. Well, actually, he had no idea. It could be one of those really cheap apartments that resembled motel rooms for all he knew. Pokemon like him didn't bother with human trivia.

The television screen blurred for a second, and Sceptile rubbed his bleary eyes with his hands, wrist-blades hovering dangerously close to his face. His gaze hadn't left the TV much for the past few waking hours, and the effects were starting to creep up on him. It wasn't healthy, he was aware of that, watching TV for that many hours on a daily basis. But his sharp eyesight couldn't be spoiled as easily as most (at least, he told himself) and he was still awfully fit for a Pokemon-turned-couch potato (again, according to his conscience).

The horribly boring, thousandth replay of some Hyper Rank Contest that took place years ago switched to a documentary on Hoenn's starter Pokemon; a terribly-recorded home video was playing to the narration. In a small pen, a young Torchic scampered about on clawed feet, chirping incessitantly in excitement. Sceptile smirked.

The narrator's mediocre voice droned on about it being among the most researched discovery of its generation or some shit while the Torchic tripped over its own feet and fell into a water bowl. The programme suddenly changed again, now to a live broadcast of a battle between some random trainer and Gym Leader Winona in the Fortree Gym. Sceptile sighed. He'd usually be interested in this kind of show, but watching the challenger release a shivering Breloom onto the arena made him want to curl up and cry somewhere.

Groaning, the Grass-type stretched a clawed foot towards the bed from his sprawled position on the wooden armchair, swiping at the boy lying on the mattress. "Change the channel, change the channel!" he ordered the holder of the remote.

Though he only heard a slew of garbling, for he couldn't understand Pokemon language, he knew the gist of what the starter was trying to say. "Look, Sceptile, I can watch whatever I want! You hogged the TV all day yesterday!" his trainer snapped, pushing the foot away from him.

Emerald had made himself comfortable on the single, springy bed, lying on his stomach and surrounded by empty soda pop cans. He was glowering at Sceptile, clutching the remote controller in his small hands possessively. His hair was in a long ponytail, since keeping his usual hairstyle at home was awfully problematic (it was probably the same case for pants, since he was in his boxers). All his mechanical gear was piled up messily in the corner of the room, abandoned until they were required, leaving a small, growth-stunted 14-year-old kid on the bed.

Eyebrows furrowed, he flipped through the channels at a faster rate than before, more desperate to catch some interesting show so that he wouldn't have to surrender the remote. Pausing for a second every once in a while, he was still unable to find an interesting program. Sceptile grumbled mutinously.

 _"–reports of drug trade–"_

 _"–S.S. Tidal expanding–"_

 _"Call now and you'll receive a free–"_

 _"–big sale at Slateport Mar–"_

 _"But I love you!"_

The starter Pokemon immediately cawed in interest, sitting up straight and staring that the TV screen. Emerald looked from Sceptile to the TV with a disgusted look on his face. "This shit again? Seriously, Sceptile?"

Sceptile shushed him.

The TV began howling, _"No, you lie! It is lie! LIIIIEEE–"_

The screen went black. Sceptile squawked in surprise.

Emerald set down the remote. "That's enough disgusting shit for one lifetime. Get enough of it from those two."

Snorting in defiance, Sceptile snatched up the controller with amazing speed and flicked the TV back on to show a man running away from his admirer. His trainer stared at him in astonishment, and the starter smirked. Nobody messed with a Sceptile's show, not even their trainer.

Emerald groaned. "Whatever, there's only crap airing nowadays…"

With his starter ignoring him, the blonde boy was now officially bored. Why, yes, he actually had many things to do - sorting out his dirt pellets, cleaning his equipment, doing his hair - but all of them could wait until he achieved motivation to do them. And while he was sure that he was forgetting something, he was convinced that it could wait, too, or else he would've remembered what it was.

"So bored…" he whined, as he played around with Snorlax's Pokeball, rolling it around on the bed. The snoozing Pokemon within didn't stir - even if he released the thing, it wouldn't have awakened.

Emerald groaned. There was nothing (fun) to do, all because of his senior. Crystal gave him quite a long break to get settled into the apartment, and settled he was; about six months' break, maybe even longer. She never told him exactly when she'd need his help again, which didn't help his boring situation at all.

He wondered how she was doing, working as Professor Oak's most trusted and best assistant (though she denied it) without his help. Her daily workload was, and is still legendary in the Pokemon world, although not many knew.

If he hadn't known better, he would think that she was trying to get rid of him from the lab.

Grabbing his Pokenav from its place on the pillow, he decided to give her a call. She hadn't answered him at all for about three months or so, and he had no idea why, but he presumed that she'd been too busy to pick up her Pokegear. But, maybe she needed him now? He selected her name on the list of contacts, skipping a few contacts he never even knew he had. ("Senior Blue…?")

The line rang for a while, but Crystal never picked up her Pokegear; as per usual, it went straight to voice mail. But this time, her voice mail was a lot different than from when he last called her.

"-this how you do the voice mail thingy… AHA! Finally! Hey there, this is Gold from New Bark Town, the hottest Pokedex Holder in existence! If you have a message for Super Serious Gal, don't bother, since she's busy being serious! So serious, she didn't even notice me swipe her Pokegear! I mean seriously it's been like-"

Emerald cancelled the call immediately with a sigh. There wasn't any point in leaving yet another voice mail. Apparently, Crys didn't even have her Pokegear…

Clattering from the kitchen told Emerald that Sudowoodo had dropped something, again. Sounded like a pot. He sometimes wondered why she even bothered to act like some surrogate mother, doing the cooking and all, when she couldn't even get a firm hold on anything without weird green ball things as fingers made that happen a lot - okay, all the time. (Not to mention that both he and Sceptile agreed that they preferred takeout.)

"You okay?" he called anyways. He heard some fumbling and a clank on the kitchen counter, signalling that she was quite fine, thanks.

Now that he thought about it, his Pokemon were always this problematic, and he never really kept a close eye on them. He suddenly looked up and searched around the room. His gaze finally landed on Dusclops, who had opened the window and was 'looking outside' by sticking half of his bulky gray body out of it.

"Dusclops!"

The Ghost-type immediately shrunk back inside, banging his head on the window in the process. (Emerald had long ago stopped questioning why his Ghost-type was solid.) The phantom shuffled away from the window to the corner. Sudowoodo's head peeped out of the kitchen to see what was going on.

The trainer sighed at his most troublesome Pokemon. "I already told you, if you want to go outside, you can!" he admonished, rubbing his temples, "Mantine and Mr. Mime are already out there, doing stuff at the beach. I don't know what, but probably really fun stuff."

Dusclops' single eye drooped, giving him with a guilty look. The Ghost-type had always been a bit immature. But not daring to go outside alone? How old was he? Could ghosts even age?

Sceptile clucked his tongue in annoyance from his comfortable position on the armchair, warning everybody - AKA Emerald - to shut up. There was about to be a smooching scene on TV.

Emerald let out another deep sigh, and decided to let the matter drop. "It's okay." Dusclops brightened up. "I guess it is a little boring just hanging around here for months… maybe we should go out more. Or, we could go out like, now."

Making up his mind on the spot, he headed for the bathroom, giving one of Dusclops' big gray hands a brief pat along the way. He opened the compartment behind the bathroom mirror, which revealed that the small shelves were filled with dozens of hair gel bottles.

"We can try the beach too, maybe beat up some kids' Pokemon…"

He grabbed one bottle at random and untied his long, glossy hair. Dusclops helped take his hairband, standing in the doorway and almost filling it completely.

Then Emerald began the complicated process of styling his hair into the shape of a crescent. It took amazing skill and concentration, mind you.

"You know, Dusclops," he said whilst raking handfuls of gel through his hair, "I really think that I've been forgetting something impor-"

 _knock knock knock_

"Nobody ordered pizza, right?" Emerald called to his Pokemon. He could almost hear Sceptile roll his eyes.

Sudowoodo slipped out of the kitchen, covered in broken eggshell bits, and peered through the door's peeping hole. It was her sudden gasp that alarmed everyone.

"Who is it?" the Dexholder whispered to the rock-type as he and Dusclops exited the bathroom, staring at the door anxiously, as if expecting some mass murderer to burst in any moment wielding a revving chainsaw - or, even worse, a pair of lovey-dovey adolescents. Sudowoodo merely inched away from the door, a nervous look on her face, and he slowly began to suspect the latter.

Emerald crept over, and with a boost from Dusclops, he peeked through the hole to see who it was that scared his Pokemon. Upon seeing the impatient-looking, smartly-dressed man at his doorstep, his head jerked backwards in shock, smashing into Sceptile's curious face.

"Oh shit." Was all he could say. Now he remembered what he forgot.

"Rental."

Dusclops looked confused, and Sceptile clutched his throbbing nose, rolling his eyes. Only Sudowoodo and Emerald seemed to be freaking out.

"I totally forgot that I promised Crys that I'd pay for everything myself!" he whispered frantically. Completely forgetting about his hair which was only halfway done, he quickly went to put on some clothes and his gear.

Sudowoodo put her hands (greenballthings) to her mouth. "Oh no!" she wailed miserably. "My poor, baby orphan trainer… he's being kicked out of his first real home, after months and months of hard labour, blood, sweat and tears to achieve it and I can't do anything, no, Sceptile, what do we do-"

"Shh." Sceptile gave the hyperventilating rock-type a glance. She was overdramaticizing the situation again. "Come on, even if we get kicked out of here, we're already used to camping outside. 'Sides, we could use some drama to spice up our lives. I'm getting restless. Right, Dusclops?"

Dusclops was staring at the door, which the landlord had been knocking away impatiently from the other side.

"Huh?" The Ghost-type asked.

Sceptile nodded, putting a hand on Sudowoodo's shoulder. "See? He agrees with me."

"O-oh, but Rald!" she continued to whine, eyes darting around the room as the boy in question returned to the doorway wearing his clothes and gear. He stared at Sudowoodo questionably for a moment until Dusclops nervously tugged at his sleeve, pointing at the door.

Unaware of his pokemons' conversation, Emerald cautiously twisted the doorknob and pulled the door open. As expected, his landlord was right there, arms crossed and expression unreadable. The tall man looked down at the young trainer.

"Good morning, Mister Emerald…" He drawled, eyes moving from the boy's half-done crescent hairdo to the pokemon trio huddled together behind him. "…and company."

"Yeah, what?" Emerald snapped, annoyed at the man's unimpressed look, albeit still quite nervous, despite the fact he knew what was going to happen. Sudowoodo bonked the back of his head for being rude, while Sceptile chuckled quietly.

"You know what." The man retaliated sharply, before recomposing himself. "It's been quite a while since you promised to pay rent, hasn't it?"

The Dexholder had trouble meeting his gaze. "Maybe, maybe not…"

"Six months, to be exact." The landlord crossed his arms. "I'm going to cut to the chase; this is my final visit, Emerald. Do you have the payment or not?"

"Er." Emerald exchanged awkward glances with his Pokemon.

"Well, not now, I mean, soon, I kinda forgot-"

"Then I'll have to kick you out." Sighing, the man opened up his briefcase on the floor and began picking through some files of paperwork. Emerald groaned internally.

'What do I do?' he thought, 'If Crys hears about this, I'm dead!'

"Can't you postpone-"

"Like I did the past six times? No."

"How 'bout-"

"No."

"A-"

"No."

"Come on! Just give me a little longer!" The boy said desperately, eyes wide in hopes of getting some sympathy.

But the man whom he was pestering remained unfazed, pulling out a handful of papers. He straightened his red tie and looked down at him with a serious stare. "Mister Emerald, you haven't paid a single penny of rent for the past six months. I've given you enough time!"

Panic began to get a hold of Emerald's heart. "No, just wait! I'll get the money from somewhere-"

"No. I'm sorry, but you'll have to find a new place to stay." Shaking his head, the landlord took all his printed documents back and placed them inside his briefcase. Sceptile made a hissing noise, ticked at the man's rudeness, as the short Dexholder broke out into a cold sweat. 'No, no, no!'

"Please! One week! Just one week! I'll give you the full payment!" He pleaded, tugging the man's sleeve with an extendable hand, much to the surprise of his Pokemon. Their shock was justified; normally, Emerald would have too much pride to beg, but this was a very desperate situation. A situation so desperate, he'd have to resort to one of the most desperate measures of all desperate measures. Yes, that desperate.

A snort. "That much money in one week? Please." He shook off Emerald's hand, and held out his own hand, palm open. The boy frowned and reached into his pocket.

"You're talking to a Pokedex Holder-" He tried emphasizing on his Dexholder status, but the landlord seemed indifferent- "-who conquered the Hoenn Battle Frontier, not to mention saved the whole place, in one week." Emerald huffed, putting the keys to his - well, no longer his - apartment in the landlord's hand, who rolled his eyes. "Getting that money will be easy." Sceptile glanced away.

"If it would be so easy, why didn't you pay on time?" The man slid the keys into his pocket, before turning to leave. This guy obviously did not care for his achievements, qualifications or simply amazing hairstyle. Damnit.

"I was busy!" Emerald snapped, fuming silently. It was no lie; he may just be an assistant to an assistant of a famous researcher, but even that position came with one too many responsibilities. 'You'd think a Pokedex Holder would get a little more respect!'

"Haha, sure." He exited the apartment, standing by the door. Sceptile swished his leaf-like tail crossly, the green blades rustling, indicating that the man leave. "Now if you please, pack up your things and be gone by tomorrow morning."

The green-eyed boy said nothing for a moment, his mind on hyperdrive, thinking of a solution. The was simply no way that he could let himself be kicked out of his apartment. Just, no. Hell. No. It would mean the end of him, and the memories would haunt his mind forever.

Sceptile stared at Emerald. 'He's probably overexaggerating the consequences.'

Sweat trickled uncomfortably down his forehead. The ass of a landlord had taken his leave without another word, uncaring of his predicament, walking away with an arrogant stride. Bastard. What to do, what to do? Shit, he's leaving, here's your last chance to bargain-

The words left his mouth before he could actually register what he was saying.

"I'll pay you three times what I owe!"

Well, that captured the man's attention. He stopped in his tracks and glanced back at Emerald, interest apparent in his beady black eyes. Not surprising, with him being such a greedy asshole. Sceptile and Sudowoodo gawked at their trainer in disbelief. Dusclops idly played with the brass doorknob.

Emerald gulped. Whatever he had just blurted out, there was no turning back now, since there was no way he was taking the words back. Although he was unsure of where this was going.

"Three times?"

"That's… that's what I said."

Emerald's oppressor turned around fully to face him, an eyebrow raised and an irritating smile on his face. "And how would I know you aren't just bluffing?"

Emerald knew he was bluffing. "No, I'm not bluffing. I'll get you the money."

It was obvious that the landlord wasn't convinced when he whipped out a small black calculator out of his pocket, punching in a few digits before showing the boy the total. Emerald squinted to see the number.

"…18000 P-PokeDollars." Well shit. "Hahaha, no sweat!"

The man brought his arm back down, eyeing the Dexholder with scrutiny while Sceptile smacked his own face with his clawed hand. Emerald could see that the landlord was still very doubtful whether he would actually deliver the money. To be honest, he himself didn't think so; but there was no way in hell he was retracting his, albeit impulsive, statement. He had already lost nearly all his pride by begging, and he was struggling to salvage whatever he had left. His poor, precious pride.

Sceptile chirped softly, reminding him that he still had to convince the man. The one in question looked about ready to leave, not believing that a fourteen-year-old boy could scrounge up that amount of money in time.

"How about a bet?" Emerald offered, hoping his voice sounded inticing enough. He had betted and won against the whole Battle Frontier, which gave him the idea (not to mention a much needed confidence boost) of making another one. The landlord let out a gruff, 'Hmm?'

"I'll pay you three times what I owe, within a deadline of one month-"

"One week." The landlord interrupted.

"Thirty days?"

"Two weeks."

"Three weeks, alright?!" Arceus, this man was irritating.

"…Fine, continue." He sighed. Emerald rolled his eyes.

"Within a deadline of three weeks… um," The boy put a finger to his chin, thinking. "And then I get to stay in this apartment. For free. Forever!"

"And if you fail to do so," the landlord said almost immediately, a cocky smile on his face, "You move out, and you will be in my debt for the rest of your life until you pay me. And, you'll have to give me all of your hair gel." He ran a hand over his thick, gelled hair, eliciting odd looks from Emerald and his Pokemon.

"I can't find any good quality ones that aren't ridiculously expens… wait."

"…Hahaha…"

A moment of silence.

"Get your stuff and get out of that apartment." Sceptile pushed an angry Emerald inside, who grumpily tossed the few belongings he had (or cared about) into a brown knapsack, including Snorlax's Pokeball. Sudowoodo wasn't helping, trying to cram everything he didn't need inside. He was done in two minutes, and went back outside to the landlord, who was still waiting there.

"…I will drop by to collect all your hair gel at the end of the third week." And with that, the man turned around once more and strode off in a professional fashion towards the stairway. The Dexholder snorted, and Sceptile hissed after him.

"We'll see about that." Emerald grinned at his Pokemon. They all met his gaze with a confused one. "We're the best battlers in Hoenn. We'll just go on over to the Battle Frontier, beat a bunch of suckers, and swim around in a bathtub full of reward money like we always did in the past!"

Sceptile's eyes widened in realization, and smiled along with his trainer. Sudowoodo nodded slowly, Dusclops mimicking her.

This would be just too easy for them!


	2. a unique opportunity

"What do you mean the Frontier is closed?!"

His trainer wasn't the champion of the height department, but his high-pitched voice was one-of-a-kind. The blonde boy had his mechanical hands clutching his head in horror, gawking at the huge _'Closed for Maintenance'_ sign across the entrance to the Battle Frontier.

He himself was quite upset, but the grass-type was used to leaving the tantrums to Emerald. In his own opinion, it would be more appropriate for an immature human boy to throw a sissy fit instead of a fully-grown Pokemon in its final evolution stage of his stature. He wouldn't want the respected Frontier Brains around them to view him as badly-behaved, oh no, especially after his fit at the Battle Factory years ago. How embarrassing.

"The drainage system wasn't repaired enough, I guess," he overheard Pyramid King Brandon mutter, "the main pipes burst for like, the second time this year!"

"Maybe if you didn't use so many useless fountains and pools and shit, this wouldn't have happened!" Emerald raged.

"It's called _landscaping_!" Dome Ace Tucker yelled at the boy. Sceptile knew that this oddly dressed human had yet to let go of his grudge against his trainer, despite what he did to help save them all.

"Why are you so desperate to re-challenge the Frontier this time, Emerald?" A familiar female voice asked. It was Arena Tycoon Greta; Sceptile remembered her the most, since she was almost as short as Emerald without his fancy gear.

"No… no reason." The boy mumbled, quiet all of a sudden. The pokemon pitied him. He'd opened up to his own pokemon, but still preferred not to socialize with other humans. There was no way he was going to tell the Frontier Brains about his, er, dilemma. It was a depressing case, in his opinion.

"Your trainer looksss… very upssset."

A sinister voice suddenly hissed in his ear. Sceptile nearly jumped as the large, scaly face of a seviper appeared next to him. She flicked her purple tongue, crimson eyes glittering with amusement. He grumbled in chagrin, angry about being caught off-guard.

"It's just a small personal problem of his," Sceptile lied carefully, cautious of the dark-type's playful nature. "we can solve it ourselves."

"Ssso it seemsss." She replied sarcastically, not believing him one bit. Slithering around him, she gave him a quick once-over. "I don't remember battling you, sssweetie."

Glad for a change of subject, he cleared his throat. "My trainer used rental Pokemon for the Battle Pike challenge."

Seviper gazed at him questioningly. "Weren't _you_ a rental Pokemon?"

Sigh. "He used other pokemon."

Seviper 'hmm'ed thoughtfully.

"…You mussst be the sssceptile that went crazy and got ssstolen from the Frontier, yesss?" She peered at him very closely, flicking her tongue. "Yesss, you're the one."

"Did you have to bring that up?" Sceptile almost hissed himself, feeling more uncomfortable than ever. Seviper giggled, which sounded more like a strangled hiss.

"It was hilariousss," she remarked, thinking back to that day. "you were about to attack your own trainer… eyes wild… like you had an overdossse of sssomething…"

Sceptile growled, trying his best to keep a cool head. "I fell off the Sky Pillar, got lost from my first trainer, was sneaked into the Frontier by a freak, and then he shoots something pointy into my ass, why wouldn't I get pissed?"

Another giggle. "My my, you sssure had quite an eventful life, sssweetie. You mussst be ssspecial." The snake-like Pokemon smiled at him, long pointy fangs gleaming, satisfied at getting him to talk.

"Wh-"

Seviper's voice drops an octave, a little more serious. "You're an example to usss… the opresssed pokemon."

"I…" If Sceptile could blush, he would've gone red with embarrassment. Not just any Sceptile could have gone through what he had - the thought made him smile a little bit. Maybe Seviper wasn't so bad after all…? "I guess so."

"You mussst be very ssstrong too," she praised, raising her blade-like tail to touch his arm lightly. "we could… try out… your strength." And she went back to being a total creep.

He coughed into his hand. "Erm, maybe another time." He stepped over the long body that was coiled around him, leaving her conversation trap. "I think I have to go now."

He craned his neck around, looking for Emerald, hoping to leave quickly before Seviper caught him again. He eventually spotted the boy waving farewell to the Frontier Brains, just as Salon Maiden Anabel approached them all. He dashed after his trainer.

"Oh…" His trainer acknowledged him slowly. "Hey Sceptile, I was just about to call you. We're leaving."

He could see the sad look on Emerald's face quite clearly despite the boy's efforts to hide it. While Sceptile honestly found his reasoning ridiculous, he didn't like to see his trainer unhappy, no matter how childish or irresponsible he was being. (And he would know, Emerald was always like that.) He put a scaled hand on his shoulder, attempting to comfort him through a warm gesture.

The Dexholder said nothing as he plucked two Pokeballs off his belt, and released his Mantine from one of them. Mantine chirped happily upon release, flapping her flippers around as she floated in mid-air, even calling a greeting to Sceptile before realizing how down her trainer looked.

"What's wrong now?" She asked her teammate, who simply shrugged in turn. He wasn't in the mood to explain anything. He heard some yelling from behind, and turned to see Anabel scolding the other Frontier Brains for slacking off on repair work, or something.

He saw Seviper with her trainer, Pike Queen Lucy. The dark-type met his gaze, and, smiling coyly, waved her tail at him. Shuddering, he turned around again.

"I'm returning you now, Sceptile." Emerald mumbled, holding out Sceptile's old, scratched Pokeball. The Grass-type merely nodded in acknowledgement rather than confirmation; Mantine didn't have that much space on her back, and she tended to be slippery. He'd rather be nestled comfortably in the confines of his Pokeball.

As his trainer pressed the button on the ball, Sceptile heard him mutter, "Now where do we go?" He felt the familiar pulling sensation of his body turning into energy and being sucked into the Pokeball. Once inside, he found himself in a much smaller form, surrounded by curved, transparent walls.

Everything outside was suddenly so big; on his left he could see nothing but gray cement floors, and his entire right was the green-colored material of Emerald's funny shirt. Sceptile found himself examining the shirt; why did it have to be olive green, he never really liked olive green, why not lime green-

Wait, why did he like lime green again? And why was he thinking of such trivial things?

A click resonated inside the Pokeball as Emerald attached it to his belt. Sceptile felt rumbling and shaking when his trainer climbed onto Mantine's back. "To Lilycove City." He heard Emerald order, and with a curt nod, Mantine began her ascent to the sky. A muffled yet loud whoosh, and the grass-type could see the Frontier becoming tinier and tinier below them.

Sceptile curled up into a comfortable position, deciding to sleep until they reached their destination. It's not like a Pokemon could do much else inside a Pokeball. (The Chesto Berry he was holding could only entertain one for so long.)

But his mind kept returning to his conversation with Seviper, preventing him from doing just that. She'd said that he was special - though he wondered why he let himself be flattered by a that creep - and he agreed. (He wasn't one to be humble or modest.)

Months of floating among Hoenn's cruel, vast oceans, tired and alone, had taken a toll on him. And he knew more about himself than anyone else, much more than Emerald's Pokedex. Now he had a slight fear of water (not that he'd let anyone know, it was awfully embarrassing), his wrist-blades were a little dulled from scraping rocks in the middle of the ocean, not to mention he had a quieter disposition overall. (His records still categorized him as 'Hasty'.)

He was, indeed, a Pokemon of many experiences; he felt terribly old, and he was only about six in human years. He didn't really know how much that was in Pokemon years, or Sceptile years, but he was sure that he was pretty young.

And he was also confident that he was much better than both Toro and Zuzu; they'd evolved first, but he was stronger. He'd scaled all fifty floors of the Sky Pillar, and fell all the way back down. Not just any Pokemon would still be alive to tell the tale. (And he never missed out on a chance to tell it, much to his teammates' chagrin.)

But when he thought even more about his life, which gave him a bit of a headache, he found that he owed everything, his experiences, his strength, his life… all to one person; the one who saved him from the swirling darkness of Kyogre's wrath years ago.

They helped each other, saved each other's lives. He thought that he had finally got his trainer - not the one meant for him, but a trainer nontheless.

While he was perfectly (alright, not perfectly…) happy with Emerald as his trainer, he couldn't help but wonder…

 _'…Wally._

 _Why didn't he ever look for me?'_

xxx

"Um, hey, lady." The receptionist looked up from her monitor. Emerald waved at her to get her attention. She smiled warmly, remembering her job. Her colleague, the second receptionist, watched them intently from the other corner of the reception desk.

"Can I help you, dearie?"

"Yeah. Do you guys have any job openings here?"

"You mean, here at Lilycove's Department Store? I'm afraid not." She shook her head. "Why would a kid your age need a job anyways?"

The boy crossed his arms, offended. "Kid? I'm not a kid. I am-" He reached into his pocket and took out his Pokedex, showing it to her. "A Dexholder! You people should be honored that I'm even inside this building!"

He looked around, but the few people and Pokemon that were there didn't pay attention to him. Except for one kid, who was fascinated by his hairdo.

"That's cute, hun." The woman pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, retaining the strained smile on her face. "But everybody knows that there are only two Hoenn Dexholders!"

"WHAT!" Emerald screeched, his voice echoing around the lobby, completely drowning out the cheesy elevator music that was playing for a second. The receptionist leaned away from him, surprised.

"Yes, Ruby and Sapphire. They saved the whole region together!" She didn't seem to notice him drop his Pokedex, suddenly becoming frozen with a look of shock on his face. "They appear in the newspapers sometimes, even now. They're so adorable!" she squealed.

The blonde began shaking, and his breath became labored. "Um, are you alright?" The receptionist asked timidly. She was going to get fired if the manager saw this…

Emerald slowly picked up his Pokedex, stashing it away in his pocket. His back to her, he muttered a 'Thanks.' before stalking out. Everyone stared after him, not saying a word, even after he was out the automatic glass doors. Until the one kid shouted after him,

"Your hair is really weird!"

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" came the reply, scaring everyone inside the building. (And probably whoever was out there at the time.)

"You know," the second receptionist told her friend, "There are three Dexholders. The third one helped save the Battle Frontier."

"Oh, really? My bad." The first receptionist gazed at the front door. Yep, she was going to be fired for sure. "How did you know that?"

"Not many people know about it, since it was an isolated incident… Scott made sure of it. Bad publicity, you know."

"Ah. Well... whoops."

xxx

"I just, I just… can-NOT believe that… ARGH!"

Mantine sighed. 'Poor Emerald must feel really sad now.' she thought.

"I mean… I… they… I hate them." Emerald whined, clutching the antennae on her head a little tighter. Mantine shook her head slightly, careful not to fly off course. "You shouldn't hate others." Her advice came out as a garbling sound that her trainer obviously wouldn't understand.

"I thought that I deserve at least, just a little respect for saving the Frontier. Hell, if I didn't do that, Guile probably would've gone for the entire region again! Then, the whole world!"

The Kite Pokemon kept her focus downwards, beginning to slow down. They had finally reached Slateport City, if the the screeching of Wingulls and the sound of bells at the harbor wasn't any indication. She slowed the already graceful flapping of her flippers as they descended, her tail fluttering in the wind. They landed right in front of the city's lighthouse.

"Thanks, Mantine." Emerald said, then hopped off her back.

She replied with a nod. He returned her to her Pokeball, and began heading west, towards the infamous Slateport Marketplace. Several sightseers nearby stared at him, or more specifically, his hair; but he couldn't care less. It was a normal thing. He had to find some source of income, and fast, if he wanted to ensure his win for the bet. There was no time to waste on people who wanted his secret to his groovy hairstyle.

The stone pavement he walked on was spotless, nearly sparkling. The place being the second largest city in Hoenn, not to mention a huge tourist attraction, it had to be a clean place. On his left was a vast beach, packed with visitors, and beyond, was the sea route 109. He faintly remembered Idiot One babbling about visiting the beach for a tan, but he'd blocked him out not long after. He shook his head; he didn't want to think about him right now.

As he approached the Slateport Market, all he could hear was people yelling, advertising their products and ringing bells. He cringed; noisy people created noisy places, and he hated anything noisy. But if there was the slightest possibility that somewhere inside was a job opportunity, he'd have to go inside.

 _'I hate my life.'_

Predictably, things were even worse inside the open-air bazaar. It was crowded as hell in the narrow passage between shops. He found himself being squished in between people every half second, and he had stepped on at least three shoes so far. Barely any of the shoppers were talking, yet the sounds and noises from the salespeople were nearly deafening on their own.

Emerald's ears rung as someone yelled at the top of their lungs right next to him. He winced, but turned around to face the man. "Hey, you!" he said as loud as he could without outright yelling; his throat was already sore.

"Why, hello there!" The salesman greeted him in an obnoxious, over-enthusiastic voice. Emerald inwardly groaned; he hated salesmen for precisely this reason. "Would you be interested in buying a Pokedoll?!"

The Dexholder pushed away the hand waving a poor plush Azurill in his face. "No, I was wondering if you were hiring anyone to help you with your, uh, business!" He looked at the tent they were under, wondering if such a simple shop could qualify as a business at all.

"Nope, sorry!" The saleman bellowed. "If you aren't going to buy anything, then shoo! I have customers waiting!"

 _'Liar, nobody's even looking your way.'_

Emerald slipped back into the moving crowd. People were going both ways, making getting anywhere a pain. He approached a few more people, but nobody was hiring; all the businesses there were strictly family-owned or privately run by individuals.

He soon found himself nearing the other exit of the market. Here, there was more open space and fewer shops, saving him from the agony of having everyone entering his personal bubble - not to mention the fear of people snatching up his Pokeballs. Just as he heaved a sigh of relief, a hand grabbed his sleeve and pulled him aside.

"Gah!" He looked at his kidnapper - it was a guy wearing a black cloak with a hood that covered his face. Basically, the man was extremely suspicious-looking. The man's Zangoose glared at him darkly, a bulging sack thrown over its shoulder.

"What's up with you?" He growled, wrenching his arm free. The cloaked man merely took something out of his cloak and showed it to him.

"Would you like… some Pokemon vitamins?" He said creepily, shaking the bottle of Protein in his face. His Zangoose nodded slowly, encouraging him to buy some.

"Uh, no!" Emerald backed away. "What the hell? If this is how you try and attract customers, nobody's gonna buy from you, weirdo!"

"Uhh, sorry." The dude replied, keeping the bottle away. Emerald huffed and walked off, heading towards the exit. He knew that he'd hate the market -it was full of creeps. He might as well find somewhere to sleep, since he was basically homeless, and try to avoid making his day any more shittier than it already was.

"Psst." hissed a voice from the nearby shrubs.

 _'Go to hell.'_ Emerald mentally spat, his grumpy mood worsening.

"Pssssst!"

 _'No.'_

"Hey, you, kid with the funky hair! Psssss-"

The annoying one in the bushes was promptly assaulted with a face full of dirt, tumbling backwards and hitting the fence. Emerald lowered his E-Shooter, his eye twitching in irritation. "What the hell do you want."

The person popped his head out of the bushes, looking left and right sneakily before turning to him. It was a man in his forties, his dark hair graying just a little. He had several wrinkles on his face, which held a serious expression, visible even behind a large pair of glasses. Leaves were stuck on his hair and were all over his khaki-colored coat.

"I've been observing you." The old dude began. Emerald took a step back from him, raising his E-Shooter once more.

The man waved his hands in front of his face. "Nononono! I'm not a stalker!"

"Oh really?"

"Really!" He cleared his throat. "I saw you asking around for a job. You must be in need of some cash."

"No duh." Emerald wonder what this old guy's deal was. He wasn't sure whether this dude was a pedophile or a drug dealer - or maybe he was both.

…He was now positive that his guy was both.

"I have a job you can take." The pedo-dealer's steely gray eyes bore into his own. "You can run my shop."

"Your… shop?" The Dexholder repeated slowly, unbelieving.

Pedo-dealer nodded in affirmative. "Yes, my shop." He turned to his left and pointed. Emerald finally noticed the shop right next to them.

It was an oddball compared to all the other tents in the marketplace. It was a food stand, not a retail store like he'd expected, and quite a decently sized one too. The dull red and yellow painted stripes were peeling off, and cobwebs clung to nearly every nook and cranny. A single doorway was on its right wall, where Emerald was standing. The most interesting thing about the shitty stand was the huge model of some kind of pastry on top of the roof.

Emerald pointed at the huge model of some kind of pastry on top of the roof.

"That, my friend," Pedo-dealer said with pride in his gruff voice, "is the only thing ever sold at this shop, and the only thing that ever needed to be sold. A delicious pastry, previously reserved only for royalty and the richest of men and women. Almost completely exclusive to the region of Sinnoh-"

"What. Is. It."

"…"

"…"

"…it's called a croissant."

"…'Kay. Weird."

"Weird to you," Pedo-dealer corrected him. "in Sinnoh, croissants are a delicacy. In fact, this stand is merely one of the smaller branches of my family's huge croissant franchise, proof of how good they are! You should try one- wait, what am I saying?"

Emerald stared at him curiously. The old man looked him in the eye. "So, do you want my shop, or not?"

"You mean, I get to own the stand? But, even then I'll have to give you part of the money I get." The Dexholder crossed his arms. "I'll never win the bet that way…"

"Well then," Pedo-dealer proposed, "you can take everything. The stand, the profits. You can repaint the whole thing green and give it a new name, if you want."

Emerald's eyes widened. "Really? But isn't this like, your family's business?" This was almost too good to be true.

Pedo-dealer sighed. "It was my great-grandparents' business, and a small part of the responsibility had fallen on my shoulders. I have juggled between this stand and my highly-demanding job for years now, but now I am busier than ever after receiving a promotion!"

He suddenly stood up from his crouching position in the bushes, revealing a buff physique and clothes covered in dirt. "In fact, I am in a hurry right now; I am supposed to be heading towards a faraway region for a top-secret mission!"

Unaware of Emerald's sceptical look, he continued his rant. "But I came back here in hopes of finding someone to take charge of this stand in my place - and I think I have found that person, you!"

He leaned in towards the speechless boy, and put a firm hand on his shoulder. "If you do accept my offer, there is one condition, and one condition only - you can only sell croissants, in honor of my great-grandparents' original intentions."

"…uh." Was all Emerald could say. It was a lot of information to take in.

"Will you take this stand to be your source of much-needed income, possible happiness and physical attractiveness?" Pedo-dealer asked, face completely serious.

"I…" So maybe some pedophile-drug dealer popped out of the bushes and offered him his shop with only one simple condition and no legal documents to sign. There would probably never be an opportunity like this ever again, Emerald reasoned with himself.

"…I do."

"Then," The old man smiled a genuine smile, and gave the boy's shoulder a pat. "you may now sell all the croissants you want."

"Uhh. Thanks."

The Dexholder stared awkwardly as the man withdrew his hand and removed himself from the bushes. He fumbled with the backpack he carried for a few seconds before flames erupted from its bottom - the backpack was, apparently, a jetpack. Pedo-dealer gave him a mock-salute before blasting off, leaving behind thick gray smoke and the scent of gas clogging his nose.

By the time Emerald had waved away the fumes, the old man had disappeared into the evening sky. Feeling a bit dazed, he rolled up one of his sleeves all the way up to pinch himself, to see if he was dreaming.

"Ow."

Nope. He felt his Pokeballs shake, and he looked down at his confined Pokemon, who seemed worried about him. Namely Sceptile and Sudowoodo, who simply could not believe that their trainer just trusted a complete stranger and took his business for free.

"It's okay, guys." He assured his friends, walking in front of the - now, his - croissant stand, examining its condition under the dim light of the street lamps. A bit of paint peeled off one of the walls, fluttering onto the pavement. "Actually, we're gonna be great. Through this stand, we'll make tons of money– the bet is ours!"


	3. sinnoh's most indebted

The sun was shining bright as ever that morning, yet it barely deterred the light snowfall descending upon the rippling surface of Lake Verity and its surroundings. Snowflakes collected and stuck to any surface they landed upon, giving everything an innocent little touch of pure white. A cool breeze disturbed the otherwise stationary trees and plant life, the sound of rustling leaves filling the air.

Multiple Starling twittered to each other in the trees, the constant sound of wings flapping indicating their discomfort of snow in their nests. Wild Pokemon scuttled in, out and among the tall blades of grass clumped together in random patches, leaving uneven, messy paw tracks criss-crossing over each other on the thin layer of snow carpeting the ground.

Only a few Pokemon could be seen swimming in the lake; perhaps just a Magikarp's fin here and there, causing light ripples on the surface of the water. While most Pokemon residing in Sinnoh were adapted to the cold environment, in the especially cold waters many preferred to curl up in a warm place until the snow ceased to descend.

Among the few Magikarp was a lone Buizel, his short fur a shade of ruddy orange not differing much from the fish pokemons' gleaming scales. Floating calmly on his back, tails spinning lazily like a propellor, he watched the clouds in the sky with a startling scowl on his face. He wasn't happy, not at all, despite the calm, soothing atmosphere of the lake - and he doubted that he'd ever be.

A chilling snowflake landed on the tip of his chocolate nose. Snorting angrily, short whiskers twitching, he flipped over and dived into the depths of the lake. He wouldn't risk any more disturbances that would darken his mood even further. The resulting splash scared away the surrounding Magikarp, who disappeared into the water as well.

The Buizel's solemn-faced trainer, sitting by the lakeside, sighed at his Pokemon's contant negative attitude. Usually, the boy would try his best to cheer up the eternally grumpy Water-type, with food and jokes and whatnot (not that he ever succeeded, but it's the thought that counts, right?). But much to his embarrassment, his own mood lately had been terribly bad for the past few weeks.

His eyes followed the distorted, ruddy shape of his Pokemon swimming under the surface of the lake, until it went too deep down for him to see it anymore. What would it be like, he wondered, if he could jump in there himself, and literally drown his worries? Would he still be feeling as sad and bitter as he was now, as his Pokemon still was?

The troubled teen turned to gaze at the large cave that rested in the center of the lake; the cave in which resided the legendary Pokemon Mesprit, the being of Emotion. Wouldn't Mesprit be able to help him, then? He considered swimming over there and slapping it awake with a paper fan. Why the hell would that thing be sleeping while he was suffering from an indiscernable jumble of emotions swirling through his mind?

"Tell you! Tell you!" Squawked an irritating, familiar voice.

Chahiko flapped his wings frantically and pecked his trainer's head several times, alerting him of his duty as a best friend to return to the social gathering that was currently ongoing. Shaking his head to temporarily clear his mind, Pearl waved the Normal-type away with his arm and turned to Diamond and Platinum on his other side.

"Uh, what?" he asked innocently, hoping neither of them noticed him spacing out. Again.

"Little Miss has something to tell us!" Diamond, his childhood friend, informed him, all without moving the frosted doughnut away from his mouth. He then proceeded to take a huge bite out of it - Pearl tried to ignore the fact that the eating boy wouldn't take his eyes off him.

Platinum, who was sitting opposite him, merely nodded, placing her hands delicately on her lap, the large diamond and pearl rings on her fingers glinting in the sunlight. She was being as dainty and elegant as always.

"Tell us!" Chahiko repeated loudly, giving Pearl a glance. He was hoping for some praise for being ironic. Pearl usually loved it when he squawked something ironic. He got none.

Diamond laughed together with his Munchlax, Lax, in place of Chahiko's trainer. Both of them were covered in food crumbs, which dropped off and littered the checkered mat they were sitting on. A wild Starly or two loitered nearby, interested in the leftovers.

"Alright, I will tell you." Platinum giggled, a smile breaking out on her face. "It is a big surprise. We are going on a trip!"

"Surprise!" The Chatot mimicked, flying in circles around all of them, while Lax clapped his paws happily, crumbs flying everywhere.

"But now we know what the surprise is, so we won't be surprised." Pearl muttered, slightly annoyed.

The heiress looked down at her hands, looking deflated. "Oh."

"But, that's okay!" Dia intervened upon seeing Platinum's face fall, always the caring and optimistic one. "We can still pretend that we're surprised, right, Pearl?"

Pearl had known Dia long enough to know that the lazy boy was suspicious of his behaviour. He looked to the side to avoid seeing the accusatory undertones in his best friend's eyes being directed at him.

"Yeah, of course." he quickly agreed, finally beginning to feel guilt for making Platinum sad. Surely, if he was recieving a gift from his best friend, he wouldn't have to be an ass about it… Chahiko landing on his shoulder and pecking his head scoldingly didn't help.

The girl's face brightened again. "Okay, then." She reached for the fancy purse she had brought along (dark, top-grade leather, a pure gold lock, not to mention all those jewels wre probably real), and pulled out three white envelopes. She gave one to Dia - the boy's face flushed when their fingers touched, to which Platinum smiled cheerily. She then gave the second one to Pearl, who was staring absentmindedly at the ground.

"Pearl?" she called.

He nearly jumped when his name was called. "I- uh, um, thanks." He took the envelope shyly with both hands, embarrassed at being caught unaware, and tried to hide his face with the collar of his shirt. He could feel the stares of his friends boring right through him as he fingered the red wax seal on the letter, trying to concentrate on it rather than them.

"Sooo," Dia began slowly, drawing attention away from Pearl. Temporarily. "What's in these?"

"The surprise, of course!" the heiress giggled. "You may open the envelopes now."

"The envelopes! The envelopes!" Chahiko squawked right in Pearl's ear, just in case he wasn't listening again. Pearl swore under his breath and pressed his hand to his ear, which was ringing from the sound.

Chahiko hopped off his shoulder to peck at his other hand holding the envelope, further bolding his point. The sight of his trainer suddenly being so socially awkward and introverted was simply pathetic in the bird Pokemon's eyes.

Pearl reluctantly peeled off the wax seal, unsure about opening such an expensive-looking envelope - Arceus, there was an actual gold trim around the sides - and pulled out a baby blue piece of paper, not knowing what to expect. He saw Dia do as he had done, but turned the paper around. Admonishing himself mentally for being dumb, he flipped the paper around as well.

It was a ferry ticket. An extremely expensive ticket at that. The words 'S.S Tidal' were printed in gold on the blue paper, and the rest of the information was in silver lettering. It was obviously a first-class ticket, or maybe even higher, if that was even possible. Pearl didn't know.

"Whoa!" Came an exaggerated exclamation from Dia. "A ferry ticket!"

"Ferry ticket! Ferry ticket!"

"Yeah, a ferry ticket!" Pearl echoed, trying not to sound as sarcastic as he was. "It seems that we're going on a trip somewhere!"

"Yes, and the place we are going is truly very interesting!" Platinum said, unable to disguise the happiness in her voice. She started to blab a little, obviously very excited. Pearl looked away. 'She is not cute, she is not-'

"I have been reading about it in books for many years, and I have always longed to go there. This ferry, the S.S. Tidal, has just expanded its foreign routes, so now we have an easier way to travel!"

The heiress paused to breathe before continuing (Dia laughed). "After I asked for my father's permission to go, he let me bring you two along for a trip to Hoenn!"

Chahiko didn't miss a beat, squawking from his position on the handle of the picnic basket. "Hoenn! Hoenn!"

Dia and Lax simultaneosly dropped their food, the boy now genuinely surprised. "All the way to another region?" the lazy boy asked, eyes wide. "I didn't expect that! I've never been that far before!"

Even Zelhiko seemed to hear the commotion - his ginger head popped out of the water, and he glared at all of them from the middle of the lake. Chahiko spotted his teammate. "Hoenn!" The Chatot repeated to him, excitement ringing in his voice. The Buizel merely scowled, and disappeared back into the water.

Pearl stared vacantly at the ticket, which seemed to glitter when he angled it towards the sunlight. He tuned out his friends' excited chattering. Of course he was interested in going to such a far away place, with his two best friends at that. But… if he thought ahead… he knew what was going to happen if he went along.

"I have already booked two rooms in a six-star hotel in Lilycove, of course, if you wish, I can book one more…"

He mentally hit himself with a big paper fan. How could he be so ungrateful? Such expensive presents, Platinum gave them so selflessly - sure, she was filthy rich, but they were presents from the heart all the same.

"They have lots of nice food there, right? I mean, well, even if they didn't I'd still go with you, Little Miss, don't worry! I'll do all the cooking for us!"

And Dia. The depressed boy looked at the remains of the picnic lunch on the mat. Pearl had barely touched it, so there was still a lot more food. Though cold, everything still looked delicious, just like everything Dia cooked.

"–I promise that there will be plenty of good food, Diamond, no worries. Of course I would rather have your food, so to speak–"

They'd do all that for him, and he just felt so… so undeserving. He hadn't contributed to the picnic at all, besides dragging his grumpy ass down to the lake after a lot of convincing. He didn't bother to talk, to laugh…

"There's supposed to be a lot of beaches? Really?"

And the worst part of it all was, he hadn't bothered to make a single joke. What kind of comedian was he? He was sure he had missed at least a hundred opportunities for a bad pun in the past few weeks, counted by the looks Chahiko had been giving him. And now, he didn't even want to go to Hoenn with his two best friends.

He'd tried, over the weeks, to blame his agony on them - after all, at first glance, they were the cause of his sadness. How they'd walk close together sometimes, whisper things in each other's ears, the constant blushing (mostly from Dia's side, but he could've sworn…), how they'd glance at each other for a moment before looking away… How they would try their very best to make him not feel left out.

But ironically, it would just serve to make him feel even more like the third wheel when they'd constantly turn to him, like he was an afterthought, forcing themselves to ask for his opinion. He would rather just voluntarily walk behind them, silently seething in envy, no, jealousy, feeling hurt and…

He was just so scared. Scared of being left alone, even if they were right there with him in Hoenn.

"–and we can visit the Contest Halls, they have them scattered at various points in the region, maybe we can even enter a few Contests, and there's a lovely market in Slateport, we can go there as well, or the Lilycove Department Store…"

"I… I can't go."

The happy conversation stopped, Dia and Platina's heads snapped up to look at him, equal looks of surprise on both of their faces. Lax dropped his parfait on his own lap. Chahiko looked ruffled, narrowing his eyes at his trainer. Pearl did his best not to meet any of their gazes.

"Why not?" Diamond asked, accusation in his voice. Pearl cringed at their disheartened looks.

"I'm…" he wondered if he should be honest. "I'm not feeling so great."

Well, he wasn't exactly lying. He did feel awful - no, worse than awful. He felt worse than awful for being a shitty friend. His best friends exchanged looks.

Platinum began to speak. "If you are not feeling well, Pearl, I will certainly postpone the trip until you have recovered fully," the heiress stated kindly. "I have noticed that you have been acting quite strange for some time now. We can wait until you get better."

"Get better!" Chahiko cawed unhappily. "Get better!"

Pearl felt like he was about to drown in guilt. "Y-You guys shouldn't… shouldn't wait for me…"

Diamond suddenly grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to look into his serious dark blues, startling him. "We're going together, Pearl. We'll wait for you."

The blonde boy pulled away from Dia, shaking his head. "I don't…" He found himself breathing heavily, his head and heart pounding.

"I didn't want to go anyways!" he burst out.

Pulling himself to his feet, he turned around to avoid their stunned - and probably hurt - looks. He had to leave before he hurt them any more.

"S-Sorry. Gotta go." he muttered just loud enough for them to hear, and broke into a run towards Twinleaf Town, not looking back. His friends' stunned silence rang louder in his ears than Chahiko's screeching.

He never looked back.

Zelhiko sank back down into the water, thinking silently, soft ripples distorting the surface of the lake.

xxx

It was silent for a moment, besides his own rapid footsteps, before Chahiko's angry squawk reached his ears, followed by frantic flapping. Besides that, he heard no shouts, no yells from his friends; just silence.

He didn't wait for his Pokemon, dashing halfway through Route 220, taking a sharp right turn into Twinleaf. But Chahiko was faster, zooming right up to his side, cawing non-stop. Pearl ignored the bird and went straight for his home. As his fence came into sight, he spotted his Tauros peer at him with a surprised look on his face from the front yard.

He paid his Pokemon no mind and lunged for the door, as if his friends were violent wild Pokemon chasing after him (though he was mostly sure that they weren't going after him at all; why would they even bother with someone like him?). Twisting the doorknob, he opened the door and got inside, slamming it shut just as Chahiko's tail feathers passed through. The Normal-type screeched irritatibly, flapping his wings in a frenzy as he inspected his behind.

Pearl had intended to head straight for his room, lock himself in and stay there, but stood frozen in front of the door when he spotted the person sitting on the couch.

His father had obviously been waiting for him to arrive, hoping to surprise him with his presence - which had worked to a great effect. The man put down the thick book he was reading to greet his son.

"Surprise!" Palmer said cheerfully.

Pearl's mouth dropped open, as did Chahiko's beak. His father? At home? The boy quickly rubbed away the wetness at the corners of his eyes with his sleeve. He forced himself to smile before the man would think that he wasn't welcome; no quarrel with his friends would get in the way with a reunion with his dad.

He flung himself at his father, in a mix of joy and desperation for a distraction, who grabbed him in a masculine man-hug.

"Dad!" Pearl cried. The joyful feeling of seeing his father nearly made him forget his previous miserableness. There was no time to waste moping right now, though, for the time with the man was going to be limited.

Palmer ruffled his hair in that fatherly way, messing it up. "I thought I told you a million times already, call me 'daddy'!"

"Daddy! Daddy!" The Chatot flew in circles around the two.

The blonde boy just buried his head into his father's coat for a few seconds to compose himself, to think happy thoughts. Dad is home. The Tower Tycoon looked down at him fondly, and Pearl hoped, unsuspecting of his slightly odd behaviour.

"Nice to see you again, squirt." His warm, fatherly voice reached his ears, and he couldn't help but smile for real now.

Pearl voiced what he was thinking, voice muffled by the coat, "I really missed you, Dad."

Chahiko perched on Palmer's shoulder, earning himself a pleasurable scratch on the head. "I missed you too. All you guys, actually."

Rayhiko let out a loud purr that sounded more like a growl, his navy blue pelt giving off happy sparks. From his position stretched out on the living room rug, he looked like a huge fur carpet himself. Chimhiko gave Palmer a faltering grin, sitting forward in an armchair across them. The flames on his head burned a bit bigger, but not a spark touched the furniture.

The Dexholder finally let go of his father, and slid off his lap to sit beside him instead. ('Five-minute hugs? What am I, three?') Palmer put his hands on his knees, peering closely at his son.

"You look tired," he observed, mouth slowly turning downwards. Pearl's heart began to beat faster; he didn't want his father of all people to find out about his teenage social problems… just… he would be so disappointed.

"Tired? Haha, me? No, I'm-" He tried to think of a good one-liner, joke or suicide-inducing pun, but nothing came to him. "–I'm, uh, perfectly… _ferfectly pine_! Hahaha."

Rayhiko slapped his face with his paw.

"I don't think you're pine at all, Pearl!" Palmer looked down at him sternly. "Are you losing sleep or someth–"

The man stopped mid-sentence, a stunned look on his face as a certain thought crossed his mind. The other occupants of the room watched him curiously.

With the serious disposition of the grandson of a famous researcher, Palmer asked his son in an which made him flinch at first-

"Did you drink any caffeine?"

…

"Caffeine?!" Chahiko screeched, nearly falling off Palmer's shoulder in shock. Chimhiko's head flames burst into a larger inferno as he and Rayhiko gasped simultaneously, eyes locked on their trainer for the answer. (This was some extremely serious family shit.)

Pearl blinked, staring at his father incredulously. "What? No, I'd never do that! You said I never should, so, why would I?"

After a few moments of silent, stern-father-esque observation, Palmer finally deemed him sincere and gave him a heavy pat on the back. "Good. Then," he said, now sounding normal, "What is it that's making you look like you just woke up from the dead?"

"Er." The boy pondered his options, then decided to tell a bit of the truth. "Lack of sleep, I guess."

Palmer stared. He gulped. "…Y-You know, practising manzai and stuff!" Well that was a lie; he hadn't touched his manzai handbooks in weeks. Chahiko began to squawk, "Manzai! Manzai!" aware of his trainer's fibbing.

"That's not healthy!" The veteran trainer admonished him after shushing the bird. "I thought I told you to sleep by ten every night!"

'Actually, I sleep at nine these days.' "Sorry, dad, I forgot…"

"And I told you countless times to call me 'daddy'."

Pearl never would've imagined a happy reunion with his father to be such a stressful situation. He heard Chimhiko sigh in the background. He tried changing the subject, directing the attention away from himself.

"Okay, okay, that's not… though I did want to see you, I swear." he sighed, and the Pokemon on his shoulder fluttered off. "Well, you see, I heard something about you."

Pearl did a double-take, amber eyes wide. "W-What did you hear about me?!"

"Well, it's about you and your friend-"

"You mean Dia?"

"No, Miss Platinum."

"Platinum! Platinum!" Chahiko cut in.

Pearl went a little red. What did his father know? "What… what about me and Little Miss?"

Palmer leaned forward, a stern look on his chiseled face once more. "I heard that you and Dia went on quite the adventure with Miss Platinum…"

"You mean, the bodyguard and tour guide mix-up thing? You already know about that, I told you about it months ago, dad-"

"Call me 'daddy'!" Pearl's father shook his head. "Anyways, I was chatting with Mr. Berlitz some time back, while he was visting the Frontier. And he mentioned that you three must've had quite a fun time…"

"What-"

"…being on an all expenses-paid trip…"

Well this couldn't be good. "Uh-"

"…around the whole of Sinnoh."

The Dexholder still didn't get what his father was trying to say. All his Pokemon looked confused too, not to mention a bit nervous.

Palmer never broke his gaze on him. "Didn't you remember what I've been telling you all these years?"

"…To never touch caffeine?"

"No, the other rule."

Pearl pondered for a bit. "To not tell anyone about your-"

"No! I told you to never, ever take advantage of a lady!"

Chahiko looked as surprised as his trainer did. "Take advantage? Take advantage?!"

"WHAT?!" The boy jumped off the couch, nearly landing on Rayhiko's paws. "Why would you accuse me of taking advantage of Little Miss?"

Palmer didn't falter. "You went around with an insanely rich girl. She paid for everything, didn't she? Five-star hotels, food-"

Pearl stuttered embarrassedly as his Pokemon exchanged glances. He'd never really thought about Platinum paying for his and Dia's expenses after awhile - she would insist, and they were basically broke at the time, so they'd reluctantly accept…

"It's not like I had a choice, dad!" He defended himself, waving his arms around. "I don't like having people paying for me and stuff, especially my friends, I'd feel bad, even if they're the richest people in the world and that was a long time ago and Little Miss would force us to let her pay anyways since she has shitloads of money, but I still felt pretty uncomfortable about it, I wasn't taking advantage of her, never, it's not like I wanted to-"

"Pearl!"

The boy stood rigid and quiet, awaiting judgement.

"I don't know about Diamond," Palmer began, "But in this family, I'll have you know that we always repay our debts."

"Butshe'srich-"

"Pearl, are you a man?"

"No, I'm only fourteen…"

"…Do want to be a man?"

"Be a man! Be a man~!"

"Yeah…?"

"Then you have to act like one!" Palmer boomed, standing up, and Chimhiko fell off his armchair in shock. Pearl cowered under his father's looming figure. Rayhiko found that he was out of space to lie down, and, disgruntled, moved away to sit by the door.

"You are going to repay Miss Berlitz everything you owe her!"

"WHAT?!" Pearl yelled in disbelief. Chahiko, Chimhiko and Rayhiko gawked at the Tower Tycoon in shock. Even Tauhiko, attracted by the noise, peeked into the house through the window.

"That's what I said!"

"But how, that's impossible, dad-"

"Call me 'daddy', Pearl! And nothing's impossible when it comes to a journey to manliness…"

"But I can't talk to her right n-" He shut his mouth quickly.

"Hmm?"

"W-What I meant was, I'm just fourteen, and you expect me to get a million bucks out of nowhere?!"

"If that's how much she paid for you, then yes."

The boy whimpered. "Why…?"

"This is what my dad told me when I was young! It's just not gentlemanly at all to borrow all that money from a lady, and your best friend no less…!"

Pearl grabbed his head and groaned. His dad had gone crazy. His friends hated him. His life was over.

Palmer turned to grab a crumpled piece of paper from the couch, and gave it to his son.

Pearl unwrinkled the paper carefully; it was the expensive ticket to Hoenn from Platina. He'd brought it home by accident.

"Also…" His father said, now sympathetic all of a sudden, "I think you'll need some time to yourself, don't you agree?"

So he knew - maybe this was his father's plan from the start, to help him feel normal again. (Which failed pretty badly, since now he apparently had a debt of possibly a million bucks to repay and he was more stressed than ever.) How he found out about Pearl's problems in the first place, or how much he knew exactly, the boy didn't want to know. Chahiko squawked loudly.

"…What are you saying, dad?" he asked quietly, not taking his eyes off the rumpled ticket and its glimmering silver text.

"I'm saying," Palmer put a hand on his shoulder. "That you go to Hoenn by yourself. Take some time off, sort out your problems… and don't forget that million bucks."

Pearl mumbled. "But Dia… and Little Miss… I can't… I have to apologize…"

"I'll make up a story for you, and you can apologize for whatever asshole thing you did when you get back, when you're back to your old self again. Sound good?" The man offered, standing tall with his hands on his hips, as if he'd just made his decision clear.

Neither said anything for awhile, with Palmer watching Pearl intently for a few minutes.

"…You know, I've warned you about girls."

Pearl grumbled, "Yeah, I know."

He continued to stare at the cursive, golden 'Hoenn' stamped on the ticket. Would taking a break from his friends help him at all? Would they feel betrayed, if he went alone on the trip Platinum had planned for all three of them? It would give him a lot of time to think, sure, but after what he'd done, he'd feel even worse for running away from his problems.

He honestly couldn't say that Dia and Platina would hate him forever for what he did earlier - by experience, he knew they were far too forgiving (and it made him so mad sometimes…) - but it just made him feel all the more guilty. He didn't want to be forgiven.

And whether he went or not, his father was serious about him repaying this… this unmanly 'debt'.

Chahiko landed on his head with a squawk. Pearl looked left and then right - yup, for sure, everyone was staring at him, awaiting his decision. He guessed that he'd better make one.

Very reluctantly, he muttered, "…As long as I can bring my Pokemon with me…"

Palmer smiled. "Of course they'll go with you. Won't you guys?"

His pokemon coo in agreement.

"With you! With y–"

"But… one more thing," Pearl shut Chahiko's beak with a hand. "How would I know if I'm back to normal again?"

His father tutted. "You've really lost it, haven't you? You haven't made a joke in months. It's when you finally make a pun again."

xxx

"He's crazy." Pearl muttered, dumping a striped orange t-shirt (which was identical to the one he was wearing) into his bag. His Chatot shrugged from his perch on a chair, watching his trainer idly.

"I mean, I guess he's right about one thing, that I need time, I guess, maybe, I just…" He began to pace the room for the fifth time that hour, muttering under his breath. His thoughts were jumbled up, moving too fast for him to focus on an individual subject, and his emotions escaped him as soon as he tried to grasp one, leaving him feeling blank and utterly helpless.

Chimhiko pulled the crumpled shirts out of Pearl's bag and began to fold them one by one on the bed, albeit haphazardly with his clumsy hands.

"Ugh, but, how will I repay Little Miss all that money? I don't even really know how much she spent on us… I mean, me… I can't ask her, no… she wouldn't agree with Dad, though, that's for sure."

Striding over to sit by Chimhiko, Rayhiko attempted to help with the clothes, but his big paws got in the way and messed up whatever the Infernape had completed. Irritated, he smacked the Electric-type over the head with a rolled up manzai handbook. Rayhiko growled, mane prickling with static.

"What does Dad think, that I'll magically find someone as rich as Little Miss in Hoenn and they'll hire me as their butler? Arceus, I'm going to die…"

The blonde stops packing, staring at the carpet. "…I wonder what Dia and Little Miss are doing now…"

Chahiko clicked his tongue impatiently.

"I just... left them there." Pearl sighed. "Who knew I could be so selfish."

He turned to look out the window.

"But... I guess here's my chance to make it up to them... however little."


End file.
